How to Plan an International Company Offsite

Start with the attendees, not the postcard. Map where people are flying from and favor destinations with nonstop service from your main hubs, workable time zones and entry rules that don’t require visas for most of the group. A spectacular location that needs two connections for half your team costs a day of the agenda each way.

Then test the season, local holidays, meeting space, Wi-Fi, accessibility and the State Department advisory level. Well-connected hubs such as London, Singapore and Dubai simplify logistics; resort destinations reward the extra effort with focus and fewer distractions.

The hotel agreement carries most of the financial risk, so read it line by line before anything else is booked.

Airlines generally treat ten or more travelers booked together as a group, with a contract that holds seats at a set fare and lets you add or change names until a deadline. Group air suits attendees flying from the same hub; for people scattered across many cities, individual bookings under your normal program are often simpler and cheaper.

Many companies also limit how many senior executives fly on the same aircraft, a key-person rule worth writing into the plan. Schedule nothing critical on arrival day: long-haul attendees need time to land, sleep and beat jet lag.

Check every passport early. Many countries want at least six months of validity beyond the trip and blank pages for stamps, and renewals take time; see our passport renewal guide. Then check entry rules for each nationality in the group: colleagues with other passports may need visas where Americans don’t, and processing can take weeks.

Prepare invitation letters where business visas are needed, and check whether anyone connecting through a third country needs a transit visa. Our visa basics guide explains the common categories.

An offsite concentrates risk: everyone in one place, often in an unfamiliar country. Keep a live manifest of who is on which flight and in which room, emergency contacts for everyone, local hospital and embassy details, a plan for missed connections and lost passports, and one person accountable on site. Our duty of care service covers how this works in practice.

Confirm your insurance or assistance provider covers the destination and any adventure activities on the agenda, and brief attendees before departure.

Budget per person, with lines for air, hotel, ground transport, venue, food and beverage, activities, production, insurance and contingency. Service charges and local taxes can add a substantial percentage to food and beverage invoices, and contracts priced in local currency move with exchange rates.

On tax, IRS rules limit deductions for conventions held outside the North American area unless holding the meeting there is as reasonable as holding it closer to home; see IRS Publication 463 and involve your tax advisor early.